1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to the field of integrated circuits and, more particularly, to meeting government-imposed export restrictions for integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
The governments of various countries may impose export restrictions on high performance computer systems and/or integrated circuits that include processors. The export restrictions may be implemented for security reasons, for example. High performance processing power can be used for simulating weapons designs, such as nuclear weapons. Additionally, high performance processing power can be used to perform powerful encryption and/or to break powerful encryption algorithms.
The government of the United States of America (the “U.S. government”) imposes export restrictions on computer systems and integrated circuits that include processors. The export restrictions are based on the performance level of the processors, as measured in Million Theoretical Operations Per Second (MTOPS). The U.S. government defines the maximum MTOPS that may be exported to a particular foreign country. If the MTOPS of a given integrated circuit is less than or equal to the maximum MTOPS, that integrated circuit may be exported to the foreign country. If the MTOPS of the given integrated circuit is greater than the maximum MTOPS, that integrated circuit may not legally be exported to the foreign country unless a specific license is granted by the U.S. government for the particular export transaction. In some cases, the U.S. government may prohibit any export over the MTOPS limit. The manufacturer of an integrated circuit which exceeds the MTOPS limit for a country may either choose not to export the integrated circuit to that country, or may negotiate with the U.S. government for an increase in the maximum MTOPS (or for a license for the export transaction, in some cases).
The U.S. government currently imposes export restrictions on a variety of different countries, grouped into levels (or tiers). Countries in the first tier have no export restrictions applied (any MTOPS level may be exported). Countries in the second tier have a first MTOPS limit below which export is allowed (although record keeping may be required as to what entities the export was made to). Export above the first MTOPS limit is generally not allowed unless an individual license is granted approving each export transaction. Countries in a third tier have a second MTOPS limit lower than the first MTOPS limit, and the second MTOPS limit is used, similar to the first MTOPS limit, for the second tier countries. For countries in a fourth tier, no export is allowed. For practical purposes for many manufacturers, if a given integrated circuit exceeds the applicable MTOPS limit, the manufacturer may not export the integrated circuit to the affected country. The costs of obtaining the license for the transaction may exceed the profit available in the transaction. Also, as mentioned above, the government may not grant the license. Thus, the integrated circuit manufacturer may be prevented from exporting integrated circuits to some countries.
Since the export restrictions are based on the theoretical number of operations performed by the integrated circuit per second, the operating frequency of the integrated circuit is a factor in the MTOPS of the integrated circuit. Typically, manufacturers offer their integrated circuit products at several different operating frequencies (also referred to as “speed grades”). Over time, the speed grades at which an integrated circuit is sold may increase (e.g. as the design is improved, the semiconductor manufacturing process with which the integrated circuit is built is improved, etc.). At some point, the MTOPS of a new speed grade may exceed the MTOPS limit even if lower speed grades do not. Thus, the manufacturer may be forced to limit which speed grades of a given integrated circuit may be exported, even if some speed grades are exportable.